Brace wrench



Aug. 6, 1929. p. RAUCH 1,723,074

BRACE WRENCH Filed May 3, 1926 IIIII',

ATTOR 75 Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

1,723,074 PATENT OFFICE.

V UNITED STATES PHILIP RAUGI-I, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO J. H.FAW, OF WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.

BRACE VIBENCH.

Application filed May 3, 1826. Serial -No. 106,276.

This invention relates to brace wrenches which may be adjusted to turnnuts of several different sizes by turning the socket member to placethe proper socket in alignment with the axis of the wrench.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide abrace wrench having amultisocket member rotatably mounted on the shank thereof, which may bereleasably held in any one of its nut-engaging posit-ions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brace wrench having amultisoeket member rotatably mounted on the shank of the wrench andmeans to hold the socket member in any one of its nut-engagingpositions, which may be constructed out of few parts and at low cost,and which may be easily and quickly assembled with the socket member onthe shank of the wrench.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds. In the drawings, in which several embodiments ofthe invention have been illustrated:

V Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section, of a brace wrenchembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a front View of the socket member of the wrench shown inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional side view of a socket member similar to thesocket member shown in Figure 1 but showing a slightly differentembodiment thereof;

Figure 4 is a front view of a socket member showing a slightly differentembodiment of the socket holding means; and s Figure 5 is a sectionalelevation similar to Figure 3 showing another modification.

Heretofore multi-socket wrenches have been provided in which the wholesocket is movable longitudinally on the shank of the Wrench to releasethe socket so that it may be rotated to a new nut-engaging position. Inusing such a wrench, pressure, is often ex erted on the crank handle insuch a direction ber against longitudinal movement on the shank.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the wrench comprises ashank bent to form a crank 11 and a socket-supporting member 12. Theupper end 13 of the shank supports a handle 14 to facilitate using thewrench. The portion 12 of the shank is adapted to rotatably receive amultisocket member 15 having a plurality of sockets 16 of difierentsizes around the circumference thereof. A pair of spring discs 17 and 18may be provided at each side of the socket member 15 and adapted to berigidly attached to the shank of the wrench. This may be accomplished byproviding squared portions 19 and 20 on the end of the portion 12 of theshank at either side of the socket member 15 and the discs 17 and-18 maybe provided with square openings in the center thereof to engage thesquare portions on the shank to hold the discs non-rotatably on theshank. A shoulder 21 may be provided adjacent the square portion 19 andagainst which the disc 17 abuts. The end of the shank 22 may be peenedover against the disc 18 to hold the discs and socket member on the endof the shank. The socket mem her-may be provided with a plurality ofdepressions 23 spaced near the circumference thereof and equi-distantfrom the center. The discs 17 and 18 may be provided with a plurality ofprojections 24 which are adapted to engage with the depressions 23 whenthe socket member is in any one of its nut-engaging positions.

In using the wrench, the projections 24 on the discs 17 and 18 engagethe depressions 23 in the socket member and hold the socket memberfirmly in one of its nut-engaging positions. If it is desired to useanother socket, the socket member may be turned on the shank whereby theprojections 24 of the discs are forced out of the depressions 23 in thesocket member and the discs are sprung or dished outwardly so that theprojections 24 ride upon the surface of the socket member until the newsocket has been brought into position when the projections 24 will againengage with the depressions 23 and hold the socket against accidentalrotation in its new position.

The disc members 17 and 18 may be stamped out of spring sheet steel orother suitable spring metal, the projections 24 and the holes in thecenter being formed at the same time. The projections 24 and thedepressions 23 are shown in Figure 1 as hemispherical in shape but theymay be formed conical, as illustrated in Figure 3.

If it is desired to provide a holding means having less resistance toturning the socket member, the discs may be cut out, as shown in Figure4, to form spring spiders 25. In this modification, the arms 26 of thespiders are more resilient and allow the projections 24 in the endsthereof to pass more readily in and outof the depressions in the socketmember and offer less resistance to turning the sockets.

If desired, instead of using a resilient disc, the whole disc may beadapted to move longitudinally of the shank as the projections on thedisc pass into and out of engagement with the depressions on the socketmember. This may be accomplished by the construction shown in Figure 5in which the shoulder 21 is spaced far enough from the disc 17 toaccommodatea spring 27 between it and the disc. The extended squaredportion 19 permits the disc 17 a to move back toward the shoulder 21against the spring 27 when the socket member is turned and the spring 27holds the disc in engagement with the socket member when the socketmember is in one of its nut-engaging positions. From the foregoing, itwill be evident that I have provided a brace wrench with a multisocketmember, which may be turned and held in any one of its nut-engagingpositions against accidental displacement, and which may be manufacturedout of simple parts and easily and'quickly assembled. All the parts areof rugged construction and no small parts subject to easy breakage needbe used. It is to be understood that the invention is not restricted tothe use of two discs as one may be used with good results, nor to adisc-shaped resilient member for this purpose, as a flat stamping ofspring sheet metal of any other shape may be used just as effectively.

The invention is not, therefore, intended to be limited to what has beenshown and described, but to be interpreted broadly within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a brace wrench, a shank, a multisocket member rotatably mounted onsaid shank, said socket member having a plurality of depressions in thesides thereof and resilient means rigidly attached to said shank at eachsideof said socket member to releasab y engage withall of saiddepressions to hold said socketmember in any one of its nutengagingpositions.

2. In a brace wrench, a shank, a multisocket member rotatably mounted onsaid shank, a shoulder on said shank a flat resilient member at eachside of said socket member and rigidly attached to said shank, one ofsaid resilient members being interposed between said shoulder and saidsocket member and projections on said members to flex said members whensaid socket member is in any but a nut-engaging position whereby saidsocket member is releasably held in any one of its nut-engagingpositions.

3. In a brace wrench, a shank, a multisocket member rotatably mounted onsaid shank, said socket member having a plurality of depressions in theside thereof, a flat disc at each side of said socket member and rigidlyattached to said shank, and a plurality of projections on said discsadapted to register and engage with said depressions on said socketmember when said socket member is in any one of its nut-engagingpositions, whereby said socket member is releasably held in thatposition.

4. In a brace wrench,a shank, a multisocket member rotatably mounted onsaid shank, said socket member having a plurality of hemisphericaldepressions in the sides and spaced equi-distant from the centerthereof, a resilient disc rigidly attached to said shank at each side ofsaid socket mem ber, a plurality of hemispherical projections on each ofsaid discs and adapted to register and engage with the depressions onsaid socket member when said socket member is in any one of itsnut-engaging positions to releasably hold said socket member in suchposition. I

5. In a brace wrench, a shank, a multisocket member rotatably mounted onsaid shank, said member having a plurality of hemispherical depressionsin the sides thereof spaced from the center thereof there being onedepression for each socket, a resilient disc rigidly attached to saidshank at each side of said socket member, a plurality of hemisphericalprojections on each of said discs, one for each depression in theadjacent side of said socket member, and adapted to engage with saiddepressions when said socket member is in any one of its nut-engagingpositions.

6. In a brace wrench, a shank, a shoulder on said shank, a flatresilient member on said shank and abutting. against said shoulder, amulti-socket member rotatably mounted on said shank adj acent saidresilient menr ber, said socket member having a plurality ofdepressions'in the side thereof, a second flat resilient member mountedon said shank adjacent said socket member, means to hold both of saidresilient members non-rotatably on said shank, projections on the innerfaces of said resilient members adapted to engage with said depressionson said socket member and releasably hold said socket member in any oneof its nut-engaging positions.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature to this specification.

PHILIP RAUGI'I.

